Macron calls snap French election after European defeat

President Macron has taken a gamble which no one was expecting – calling snap elections which one of his ministers warned could have the “most serious consequences” in modern French history.

The mayor of Paris said she was “stunned” at the decision, just weeks before the city hosts the Olympic Games.

Newspaper headlines have been even starker – one called it ‘a thunderbolt’, while another described Mr Macron’s move as ‘a leap in the void’.

But could this prove to be a risk too far?

Our presenter and Europe editor Matt Frei explains.